Michelle Obama shows her husband's personal side

Michelle Obama declared "I love this country" Monday as she sought to reassure the nation that she and her
husband Barack share Americans' bedrock values and belief in a
dream of a better future.

In the first major address at the Democratic National
Convention, Michelle Obama described herself as a daughter, a
sister, a wife and a mother, no different from many women. She told
a boisterous crowd waving signs reading "Michelle" that she and
her husband feel an obligation to "fight for the world as it
should be" to ensure the promise of a better life for their
daughters and all children.

Michelle Obama talked about tucking in her daughters Malia and
Sasha at night.

Michelle ObamaPAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

"I think about how one day, they'll have families of their own.
And one day, they - and your sons and daughters - will tell their
own children about what we did together in this election. They'll
tell them how this time, we listened to our hopes, instead of our
fears. How this time, we decided to stop doubting and to start
dreaming," she said.

Michelle Obama's mission was to humanize her husband and
convince skeptical voters to look past his unusual name and exotic
background to envision him as the next president. Barack Obama has
repeatedly faced questions about whether he's a real American.

She also used the address to dismiss questions about her
patriotism. Republicans have criticized her comments earlier this
year that she was "really proud" of her country. Her answer at
the convention was to express her love of country.

The Obamas' two daughters joined their mother on stage after the
speech as Stevie Wonder's "Isn't She Lovely" blared from in the
convention hall.

Podium of the DNC convention hallPAUL J. RICHARDS/AFP/Getty Images

They spoke to Barack Obama, who appeared by satellite connection
from Missouri.

"How about Michelle Obama?" he asked the crowd. "Now you know
why I asked her out so many times even though she said no. You want
a persistent president."

The girls responded to their father on the giant screen with
"Hi, Daddy!" and "I love you, Daddy."

Michelle Obama didn't explicitly address race, but allaying
concerns among white voters was part of the strategy for the first
black nominee of a major party.

"Barack doesn't care where you're from, or what your background
is, or what party - if any - you belong to. That's not how he sees
the world," she said. "He knows that thread that connects us -
our belief in America's promise, our commitment to our children's
future - is strong enough to hold us together as one nation even
when we disagree."

She joked about his love of basketball and his overcautious
driving when he drove their first daughter home from the hospital.
She described his upbringing by a single mother and grandparents
who "scrimped and saved so that he could have opportunities they
never had themselves."

E-mails and videos circulating on the Internet criticized him
for attending a church that promoted black culture, for not wearing
a flag pin on his lapel, for not putting his hand over his heart
during the national anthem. They suggested - falsely - that he was
secretly Muslim.

She said little about his policies beyond quickly mentioning his
goal of ending the Iraq war, improving the economy and providing
health for those who need it.

Michelle Obama drew enthusiastic cheers by praising Hillary
Rodham Clinton for putting "those 18 million cracks in the glass
ceiling" - a reference to the failed Democratic candidate's vote
total in the primaries. The crowd also roared.

She was introduced by her brother, Craig Robinson, the head
basketball coach at Oregon State University. Robinson noted that
she memorized every episode of "The Brady Bunch" and praised her
passion for helping others.

And before she appeared, the audience watched "South Side
Girl," a biographical film narrated by her mother. It covered
everything from her childhood to her career in law to her puzzled
reaction to a hotshot law student interning at her firm.